


Forest Pony

by Burgie



Category: Starshine Legacy
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-10
Updated: 2017-08-10
Packaged: 2018-12-13 16:09:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11763537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Alex discovers an injured pony in the forest. The story of how Alex and Tin Can met.





	Forest Pony

“Damn it.” Alex glared down at her bike, kicking the wheel that had sprung a leak. She huffed and looked around, crossing her arms in front of her chest. This was just great. She’d ridden all the way out into the forest, without anyone, and now she was stuck here because her stupid bike had gotten a stupid puncture. “Damn it, damn it, damn it!” She punched a tree, then let loose with one of the more colourful phrases she’d learned from the dock workers as she shook her throbbing hand. “Oww.”

Alex spent a little while longer glaring at her bike, and then finally sighed and walked away. She knew how to get out of this forest, of course, she’d been here many times before, but it was still a long way home. And her mama had saved up for ages to buy her that bike, but now it would only be a burden. But maybe nobody would steal it. After all, this wasn’t exactly a bad part of Jorvik.

So Alex felt safe as she walked through the forest. She could hear the wind through the branches, the branches themselves swaying in the breeze, the birds chirping, sticks cracking as animals stepped on them, a horse neighing- wait, what?

“I didn’t know horses were native to this forest,” said Alex, looking around. “Where are you?” She’d always wanted a pony, having heard many stories about them as a child and seen them at the stables, but she’d never been able to afford one of her own. She’d been saving up some money from her paper route (the only job a young girl like her could get), but she was still nowhere near her goal.

Alex walked towards the sound of the horse, and was surprised to find a golden head staring at her. The pony blinked, then nickered as if to greet her.

“Hello there, little guy,” said Alex, reaching her hand out to pet his nose. The pony jerked his head away, then sniffed her long shirt sleeve. “It’s okay, I won’t bi- hey!” The pony had grabbed her sleeve in his teeth, and didn’t look like he was going to let go anytime soon. Alex tried to snatch her hand back, but the pony had a tight hold. They had a little tug-of-war, resulting in the sleeve tearing and Alex falling back onto her rump. The pony also jerked back with a startled whinny.

Alex got to her feet, dusting off her cargo pants.

“That wasn’t very nice, pony,” said Alex, pouting at him. The pony snorted. “Hey, come on out of there and face me like a man.” The pony made to move, but then stopped with a pained grunt. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Alex pushed aside some branches, then gasped and covered her mouth with her hands when she saw the sorry state the pony was in. His sides were streaked with blood, and more blood oozed from the cuts on his flanks. There were brambles tangled in his tail, and his back legs were firmly planted in said bramble bush.

“Oh no! Let’s get you out of there,” said Alex, bending down to attempt to get the pony’s hooves free. The pony reared with a squeal and shuffled away from her, though, even as the brambles dug into his hind legs.

“Hey, hey, easy, boy,” said Alex, moving her hands to his head. The pony snorted at her, then neighed loudly. “That was rude and uncalled for.” The pony did not look sorry in the slightest. “Alright, just stay calm, I’m going to try to get you out of here.”

She bent down again, and this time, she spoke quietly to the pony so that he merely trembled and stood in place while Alex got a few new cuts herself removing the thorny branches from the pony’s legs.

“There we go,” said Alex, straightening up. “You’re free.” The pony nickered, moving his legs, and then perked up and whinnied loudly as he found his hind legs free. “I’m right here, pony!” Alex shouted, covering her ears. The pony tossed his head, looking very much amused.

“Come on, I’m taking you back to the stables,” said Alex. “It’s a nice place, don’t worry. Jorvik Stables are the best stables on the island, and Herman is a really nice guy. He lets me ride sometimes, and pet the horses. But I probably shouldn’t ride you.” She eyed the nasty scratches on his side. “It’s a bit of a walk, though. Come on.”

Alex clicked her tongue and, to her surprise, the pony pricked his ears up and followed her. Well, mostly. Every so often, she’d have to wait and sigh while the pony nibbled on grass and bushes that Alex hoped weren’t bad for him. He seemed okay, though, as he walked along behind her.

Crossing the field outside Jorvik Stables, Alex began to jog a little.

“Come on,” Alex called, turning around and jogging backwards while she looked at him. “See if you can keep up.” The pony’s ears pricked forward, and he whinnied and began to trot. Alex laughed and turned around, picking up the pace until she was running, with the pony galloping alongside her.

As they came in sight of the stables, the pony put on a burst of speed and suddenly stopped in front of Alex so that she crashed into his side.

“Hey!” Alex complained from her spot on the ground. The pony nickered down at her, then snatched her beanie from where it had fallen. Alex glared at him. “You know what? Fine. You can have it. I don’t want the beanie anyway.” The pony snorted and dropped it. Alex grinned and snatched it from the ground. “Thank you!”

The two of them walked the rest of the way to the stables, getting their breath back after the run. As they entered the courtyard, many people looked at the pony, but nobody seemed to recognise him. They all whispered about his wounds, and about the scrappy girl walking alongside him.

“Herman!” Alex called.

“Ah, so there’s the distraction,” said Herman, smiling as he beheld the poor, battered pony. “You look like you’ve been in the wars, my friend.”

“I found him in the forest,” said Alex. “He was caught in a bramble bush.”

“Poor baby,” Herman cooed, petting the pony’s nose. “Come on, let’s have the vet have a look at you.”

“I can pay for his treatment,” said Alex, following Herman and the pony into the stable.

“You don’t have to, he isn’t your horse,” said Herman.

“Do you know who owns him?” asked Alex.

“I don’t recognise him, no,” said Herman. “Perhaps he is a wild pony.”

“He doesn’t look wild,” said Alex. “He’s tame, he’s just a-“

“A mischevious one,” Herman chuckled as he felt for his bun and found it untied. He turned around to find the hair band caught in the pony’s teeth, along with some white hairs. The pony appeared displeased with this, and dropped the hair band.

“So he must belong to someone,” said Alex.

“Well, I will put some feelers out and see if I can’t contact his owner,” said Herman. “In the meantime, he can stay here.”

“Can I stay with him?” asked Alex. Herman smiled.

“Of course,” said Herman, a knowing twinkle in his eye.

The vet showed Alex how to care for the pony’s wounds, and she spent hours with him every day when she wasn’t at school or helping around the stables. She talked to the pony, chatting about her interests and her days at school. The pony appeared to listen, when he wasn’t busy trying to eat Alex’s lunch or her hat.

“Alex, mama wants to know when you’re coming home,” said James as he walked into the stable one day. “Hey, who’s this?”

“I dunno,” said Alex with a shrug, rubbing the pony’s forelock while he had his head buried in his feed bag. “Herman hasn’t been able to find an owner yet. I found him in the forest, I told you about him, remember?”

“Yeah, you might’ve mentioned that while I was playing a game,” said James. “Anyway, mama wants to know if she should prepare dinner for you.”

“Yeah, I’m coming,” said Alex. “Well, pony, I have to go home now.” The pony lifted his head, still chewing on his last mouthful, and immediately took an interest in Alex’s little brother. Alex giggled as the pony grabbed James’ hat in his teeth and pulled it off.

“Hey!” James protested, glaring up at the pony. The pony snorted. James reached up to grab his hat, but the pony held it just out of reach. Every time James’ fingers just grazed the brim of his cap, the pony tossed his head back. James growled as his sister laughed at his misfortune. “Alex, this isn’t funny!”

“You’re right, it’s hilarious,” said Alex, still giggling at the pony’s antics. James huffed.

“Alex, make him give my hat back,” said James. The pony turned his head, still holding the cap in his teeth.

“Alright, pony, we really do have to go,” said Alex. “Give me the hat, please.” The pony looked reluctant, but he allowed Alex to pull the hat out of his teeth and pet him. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

More time passed, and the pony’s wounds healed. Alex began to train him, discovering that he was more than capable of carrying a rider on his back. He could even jump. It felt strange to keep referring to him as ‘the pony’, but she didn’t want to name him if he already had a name. As it turned out, though, that wouldn’t be a problem.

Herman approached Alex after a training session, as she sat on the pony’s back and petted his mane while he grazed.

“Another good training session?” asked Herman with a smile as he stood at the fence.

“Yeah, the best,” said Alex with a grin. 

“You two make quite the team,” said Herman, still smiling. “How would you like to own him?” Alex nearly fell off the pony in shock.

“What?” asked Alex. “But isn’t he-?”

“I searched the entire island, and not one person has heard of a golden pony such as this one,” said Herman. “It’s possible that he was simply left behind by some people holidaying. Perhaps they couldn’t put up with his antics.”

“So they just… discarded him like trash?” asked Alex, appalled that anyone could do such a thing.

“I’m afraid so,” said Herman. Alex made a disgusted noise, angry at the pony’s previous owners.

“Well, I won’t do that to you,” said Alex to the pony. “I promise. I’ll work extra hard to buy you feed and keep you boarded here, ‘cos we don’t have room for a pony at home. And I’ll ride you every day, and train you, and give you all the love you deserve.” Herman had to smile at Alex’s immediate devotion to this pony.

“Have you thought of a name while you’ve been training him?” asked Herman.

“I’d thought of a few,” said Alex. “Goldie, Golden Bullet, Tank. But now that I know how he ended up in that forest… Tin Can.”

“That’s a rather… unusual name,” said Herman.

“Well, he was discarded, like a tin can,” said Alex. “But we’ll show them just how good a tin can can be.” Herman smiled.

“Well, I’ll give you points for originality,” said Herman. “Tin Can it is. I’ll draw up some papers and we’ll make you his official owner.”

“My very own pony,” said Alex, leaning down and hugging Tin Can around the neck. She grinned into his mane, and Tin Can whinnied, as though sensing her happiness.

James was less thrilled about the new addition, especially when Tin Can stole James’ cap again as soon as he returned to the stables. James groaned and began swiping for the cap, which Tin Can would not give to him.

“So you’re telling me I have to put up with this stupid pony forever?” asked James, glaring at Tin Can. Tin Can nickered in amusement.

“Yep,” said Alex, grinning and taking the cap back before pushing it back down on her brother’s head. “Forever and ever.”

“Great,” said James with a sigh. “I hate ponies.” Tin Can blew in his face.


End file.
